Research: Linking cognition and gait impairments in Parkinson’s disease
Investigating the neuroscience of mobility loss in age and age-related diseases.
research summary
Research summary
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August 2018 to August 2020
Older people and people with age-related diseases like Parkinson’s disease are at an increased risk of falling. The consequences of this can be devastating, and frequently result in a loss of mobility and independence. We know that a first fall can be predicted in people who are showing small changes in the way they walk and declining cognitive health. However, it is possible to predict falls at an even earlier stage, using images of people’s brains.
This Wellcome Trust-funded project aims to understand how the brain regions responsible for cognition and gait begin to degenerate in the very early stages of Parkinson’s disease, and whether measuring this degeneration can improve our ability to detect (and therefore intervene in) the risk of falling in the future.
In a world-first, our research team have developed a method to predict cognitive decline in Parkinson’s disease, using a measure of degeneration in a region of the brain called the nucleus basalis of Meynert. This measure can accurately predict future deterioration even in people who are still at the very early, cognitively healthy, stages of the disease. This discovery will help pave the way for earlier, more tailored and potentially disease-modifying care for those living with Parkinson’s.
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We will use brain imaging and motion capture technology to gain new insights into the neurodegenerative changes that lead to an increased risk of falling in older populations. We hope the work will lead to novel interventions that can be applied early to prevent falls.
We will use brain imaging and motion capture technology to gain new insights into the neurodegenerative changes that lead to an increased risk of falling in older populations. We hope the work will lead to novel interventions that can be applied early to prevent falls.
research outputs
Research outputs
Academic papers
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Wilson, J, Yarnall AJ, et al (2020) Cholinergic Basal Forebrain Volumes Predict Gait Decline in Parkinson’s Disease.
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Craig, CE, Jenkinson, NJ, et al (2020) Pedunculopontine Nucleus Microstructure Predicts Postural and Gait Symptoms in Parkinson’s Disease. Mov Disord.
research team
Research team
Lead researcher
Project team
funding
With funding from
The Wellcome Trust
contact us
Contact us
For general enquiries about our Neuroscience of Ageing and Impaired Mobility cluster, you can contact research lead Dr Nicola Ray.
For project enquiries, contact project lead Dr Sarah Martin.